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2 Who
raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the
nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to
his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.

3 He
pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his
feet.

4 Who
hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the
Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. (Isaiah 41:2-4)

Who is this righteous
man that Isaiah is referring to in these verses?

There are a number of
righteous men that Isaiah could be referring to.He might be referring to Abraham.Or Moses. Or David.

I suspect that it is
Abraham, since Abraham originally came from the east, and that Isaiah
means to show how the Lord helped Abraham through some tough times.Isaiah points out how the Lord called
Abraham to leave his family and the land he knew (which was in the east) and
travel through Canaan where he hadn’t been before.The Lord protected Abraham from a number of kings who would
have killed him in order to take away his wife.The Lord helped Abraham in battle when he had to fight to
save Lot when Lot was taken captive in an invasion.The Lord promised Abraham the land of Canaan and kept him
safe from the people of the land.

After Isaiah
describes these ways the Lord helped Abraham, he applies this case study to
Israel.

9 Thou
whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief
men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and
not cast thee away.

10 ¶Fear
thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness.

11 Behold,
all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they
shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. (Isaiah
41:8-11)

The promise is that the Lord has called us as well and will
help us just like He helped Abraham. He will strengthen us and lead us the same
way.If you notice, verse 10 is probably
what the hymn “How Firm A Foundation” was based on, (which is one of my
favorites).

I especially like that it says “I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness.”When I looked up “uphold” in the dictionary, one of its meanings was “to
confirm or support (something that has been questioned)” such as when a court
upholds a claim.This is
precious, considering how much religion and traditional standards are
questioned today.Even if courts
don’t uphold us, the Lord will.

Another meaning I get from that statement is that of the
Lord’s grace to keep us strong when we are about to wilt or give way. I feel like I need that a lot.

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About Me

Michaela Stephens

Arizona, United States

I'm a happily married 32-year old who switched from Electronic Engineering Technology to Literature, Writing, and Film.
I worked for 3 years at ASU as a writing tutor and have over 400 sessions worth of experience helping people with their writing.
I'm the oldest of seven children (5 boys, 2 girls)
I'm a bit of a neat freak and an undeniable bookworm.

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